FAMILIES are struggling to cope as food, council tax and household utility bills have soared by more than £500 in a year – with further price surges on the horizon.

Research has found huge spikes in the prices of many food staples due to the 2012 harvest washout with a bag of potatoes up 25%, bread 8% and peas 14%.

The average energy bill has also risen by more than £100 since last January as power firms have hit customers with rises as high as 10% - blaming dwindling North Sea stocks.

Debt counsellors say they are being inundated with ‘middle class’ clients struggling to manage growing debts.

Council tax is also up by an average of nearly £40 a household while those in rented accommodation have also been hit with rises.

When it comes to fuel costs the average price of petrol last year was 3p higher than in 2011 – and 36p higher than in 2009. This means a near £600 rise in fuel costs since 2009.

The increases come as public sector workers are coping with years of Government imposed pay freezes.

Private sector employees have faced similar hardships with many having pay freezes or even cuts, and have seen their hours reduced.

Pensioners will see their annual pension increase reduced to 2.5% next year, giving them just £2.70 extra a week.

Households will be concerned about further increases in living costs in 2013 with planned rises in fuel costs, food, energy and council taxes pushing many to the brink.

The only cost currently coming down was mortgages, but this relies on the Bank of England keeping interest rates at 0.5%.

Jackie Blackwell, chief executive of the Citizens Advice Bureau on Anglesey, said the current problems were just the “tip of the iceberg” compared to what was coming in future years.

She said: “There has been a shift in clientele from people on benefits to ‘middle class’ working people.

“More families are falling into debt because of rising household costs. There has also been a shift in people using food banks, it is now people in work who are turning up.

“It is only going to get worse this coming year, with things like the bedroom tax coming in.

“It is biting across the board.”

Consumer Focus Wales said the increases in food and energy left many with a straight choice between heating and eating.

Lindsey Kearton, policy manager, said: “Recent above inflation energy price rises will be hitting many people in Wales particularly hard and are likely to mean even more people are now living in fuel poverty. It is already affecting one in three households (425,000).

“Thousands of people are struggling with paying their bills against a backdrop of pay freezes, concerns about job security and rising food bills.

The cost of the weekly shopping basket has now risen to £77 according to Which, up £5.60 on last year. This is in part thanks to the UK washout and US drought that have hit harvests and raised prices.

This has seen the average price of a bag of 2.5kg of Maris Piper potatoes up more than 26% to £2.43, according to research by moneysupermarket.com.

Baked beans, corn flakes, rice and apples are other staples that have suffered significant increases

Overall food inflation for 2012 was around 4% and since 2007 has rocketed 37% according to figures compiled by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This sees households forking out £4,000 on food.

There is a warning food prices will rise at 4% a year for the next 10 years due to increased global demand – putting another 40% on bills by 2022.

Heating bills are also up as the Big Six energy firms all hiked their prices over the autumn and winter months.

E.on customers had to fork out an extra £110 a year on a typical dual fuel bill while Scottish Power put up gas and electricity prices by 8.7% in December – taking the average bills to £1,271.

British Gas, Britain’s biggest energy supplier, raised domestic gas and electricity prices by an average of 6%. As a result, annual dual fuel bills for British Gas customers with average consumption increased by around £80.

EDF customers faced a 10.8% (£123) increase, npower added 8.8% on gas and 9.1% on electricity bills which saw the average dual-fuel bill go up by £112 to £1,356. SSE put up bills by 9%, meaning their standard dual-fuel bill increased by £102 a year from £1,172 to £1,274.

The elderly are among the worst affected by the energy bill increases.

Age Cymru spokesman Iwan Rhys Roberts said: “Many older people are living on low, fixed incomes, so as the cost of living rises, they’re finding their pennies are not going as far as they used to.

“We hear of people cutting back on essential items such as food and heating – indeed there’s anecdotal evidence that during the winter months, some older people are having to make a choice between heating or eating.

“Government action is needed to tackle this problem, and Age Cymru feels the UK Government’s proposals for a single tier State Pension could help transform retirement for future pensioners, bringing clarity and stability to a system which is complicated and unfair.

“The proposals provide an opportunity to lift up to 100,000 older people in Wales out of poverty by paying them a reasonable income, without them having to apply for additional means-tested top-ups such as Pension Credit. “Council tax payers all faced bill in increases from last April – ranging from 4.5% on Anglesey to 2.8% in Denbighshire putting between £30 and £40 on most Band D bills.

There was also a rise in the police precept of £5 to £214. The average Band D bill and precept now stands at £1165.

In April that figure will rise further with Anglesey and Conwy councils considering 5% increases while Gwynedd are looking at a 3.5% increase, Wrexham 2.75%, Flintshire and Denbighshire 2%. The North Wales Police precept is set to rise 4% – taking bills to £223.11 – a jump of £8.55

Petrol prices are currently down from the peaks last April of 142p a litre but increases are predicted as the year progresses.